Introduction

In this article, we will explain the policies regarding the United States of America (USA) country-code TLD (.us).

The .us domain name is only available to United States citizens.

Registrants of domains with this extension must be a citizen, resident, organization, or foreign entity that’s somehow affiliated with the United States. The .us domain name is available for private individuals to use, although it is mostly used by local and state governments.

How to Buy a .us Domain

Buying a .us domain extension is easy. First, check the availability of the domain name you want. You will see if the name you want is available, and you will see a few alternatives. Once you’ve decided on a name, you can register the name after choosing the plan that fits your needs.

Who Is Eligible for Registering .us Domains?

The .us domain extension is not available to everyone. Only those included in the following list are allowed to register .us domains:

- A permanent resident or citizen of the United States or any of its territories
- An individual whose home or domicile is in the United States or any of its territories
- An organization or business entity that is incorporated in the US, Washington, DC, or one of its entities
- Federal, state, or local US government entities
- Political subdivisions that have a genuine presence in the country

Nexus Category and Nexus requirements

Users seeking a .us ccTLD must indicate which of the three U.S. Nexus categories they belong to and must certify that they have a “bona fide presence in the United States”. These categories are used to physically locate the user. Thus, for each category, various two-digit codes are possible. The first digit of the code (1, 2, or 3) indicates to which category the .us domain belongs.

Nexus Category	Description
Nexus Category 1	A physical person who is a United States citizen (code C11) or a permanent resident of the United States of America or any of its possessions or territories, or whose primary place of domicile is in the United States of America or any of its possessions (code C12).
Nexus Category 2	A United States entity or organization that is incorporated within one of the U.S. states, the District of Columbia, or any of the United States possessions or territories or organized, or otherwise constituted under the laws of a state of the United States of America, the District of Columbia or any of its possessions (including a federal, state, or local government of the United States, or a political subdivision thereof), and unincorporated organizations based in the United States. The code used for this category is C21.
Nexus Category 3	An entity or organization that has a bona fide presence in the United States of America or any of its possessions or territories. It regularly sells goods in the United States; it regularly provides services in the United States; it regularly engages in business activities, trade, or other business (commercial or non-commercial including not-for-profit) relations in the United States. The code C31 is used for these organizations. A foreign organization maintaining an office or other property within the United States has the code C32

Nexus Country

If it is a foreign entity, the applicant must indicate the country of citizenship.

Application Purpose

Codes are used to determine the purpose of the organization.

Code	Description
P1	Characterizes a for-profit organization.
P2	Characterizes a non-profit organization, club, association, or religious organization.
P3	Characterizes an individual person.
P4	Characterizes an organization with a pedagogical purpose.
P5	Characterizes a government organization.

Updated on: 23/11/2023